Monthly Archives: June 2010

More people visit hospital emergency rooms in Chicago and its suburbs with problems related to heroin than in any other major metropolitan area in the U.S., a trend that is being driven in part by teens who are hooked on OxyContin, this article reports, citing a recent study by researchers at Roosevelt University’s Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy.

This short news clip from NBC Channel 4 San Diego shows how parents are partnering with law enforcement officials and activists to try to combat the rising rates of OxyContin abuse in their community. One of the organizations they’re teaming up with is San Diego’s Oxy Task Force, which you can read more about here.

Pharmacy heists by thieves desperate for OxyContin have become so widespread in Winnpeg, Canada that one pharmacy has posted a neon sign over its door stating “no OxyContin on the premises” to deter the rising violence, the Winnipeg Free Press reports. The articles calls for the government to beef up drug treatment programs, saying their lack is making those addicted to Oxy and other street drugs more desperate.

U.S. emergency department visits for the non-medical use of opioid painkillers increased 111 percent in 2008 compared to 2004, jumping to 306,000 in 2008 from 144,600 in 2004, according to this article. OxyContin was the second-most misused drug, with ER visits related to its abuse increasing 152 percent, the article says.

Cape Cod has always been seen as the quintessential summer getaway. But according to this article, it’s not so pretty underneath the surface. The Cape apparently has the highest area of alcohol and drug abuse in Massachusetts, and OxyContin and heroin top the list of abused substances, the article reports.

A federal jury is set to decide the fate of a Kansas doctor charged with running a pain clinic that essentially functioned as a “pill mill,” leading to the overdose deaths of nearly 70 patients from medicines such as OxyContin. Many of Dr. Stephen Schneider’s patients failed drug screening tests, required increased dosages of medication, and suffered non-fatal overdoses before finally dying, many within days of their last visit to the clinic, AFP reports.